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Threshold: Omens
Season 1 Eposide 0 - Aw, Rats! (Our Pilot episode was not audio-recorded) Basil Leafbottom awakes and prepares a traditional halfling mushroom and root-vegetable scramble down in the Cellars, and is soon informed that he is to prepare the feast for the annual Moonberry Festival. Although the lord of Neavaux Martiano Nouaero, had outlawed the 'heretical, unpatriotic' celebration, The Academy had been unofficially celebrating in Eaganside a day and a half's ride north into the tundra. Basil began preparing the menu just as Cafei, one of the kitchen workers, arrived from administering this morning's medicines (two doses to room 108, one to 101, then a regular dose for 97 followed by an additional dose 'after sundown'/in evening tea) to some students infected with lycanthropy. With Cafei, a new studdent, Ellewick -- with exotic, unfamiliar features arrived, notifying the pair that she was the new kitchen apprentice. The team began with Basil getting to know Ellewick as Cafei descended into the cellars to obtain ingredients. Once inside the cellars, Cafei stumbled across a trio of rats, one seemingly acting as a lookout while the other two worked together to roll away a small barrel of something toward the deeper corners of the cellar, one rat pushing from behind, the other rat running on top of the barrel like a lumberjack driving timber. Cafei, disturbed by the rat's teamwork and strange intelligence, hurled a piece of bread at the rats to scare them off. There was a bit of surprise in the rats eyes, before one of them motioned the other two to move out -- and then the trio scampered away. Cafei returned to the kitchen with the barrel and notified Basil that there was a rat problem -- an 'intelligent rat problem.' Upon examining the barrel the rats were taking: a barrel of Storysap (a powerful hallucinogenic ingredient to an alcohol/divination potion called 'Seer's Spirit') -- Basil accused Cafei of having drank the sap, assuming that her outlandish story of rat-teamsters to be some hallucinatory fantasy. Cafei insisted that she did in fact see the rats working together to roll away barrels and demanded Basil come with her into the cellars. Basil, being too busy to join her sent her new assistant Ellewick down to confirm the rat story. At this time, a student from the Astrelle Observatory: Nebulinae arrived for breakfast, having suffered some vague, disturbing dreams -- an affliction that had set in just after she arrived at Astrelle. Basil, frustrated at the continuous interruptions, refused to prepare a breakfast -- and suggested Nebulinae go into the cellars with her assistants to grab something to eat. Upon returning to the cellars, the team tried briefly to locate the rats with a lantern, but soon noticed that the rats were keen on staying out of sight (although they did overhear some squeaking and scampering.) After dousing their lantern, the trio snuck back to the cellar's shelves and saw a team of five rats, standing on each other's shoulders and rummaging through a bin of dried herbs, tossing out a number of dried flowers. Ellewick, having the best darkvision, sprinted forward and grabbed one of the rats as the others scampered away into the darkness. As she held the rat in her hand, it attempted to bite her before very obviously faking a heart attack, in a very peculiarly human way. Convinced that there was something more to this rat than meets the eye, Ellewick shoved it into a box and fastened the lid. As the trio discussed what to do next, and wondered if they had in fact just seen a rat try to fake a heart attack, they began to notice pairs of angry eyes appearing in the shadows. Cafei lit her lantern and discovered no fewer than ten rats had arrived, moving to the edge of the light and squeaking menacingly. A pinch decision was made to make a run for the door with their captive-- but the rats were slightly faster, falling upon the party as they turned to run. The rats savaged Cafei and Ellewick as they sprinted off towards the cellar door -- Nebulinae seemed to be entranced, unable to see the rats at all. Cafei returned for her, and after killing two of the rats, ran for the cellar entrance and directly into Basil... who was toppled prone. As the party dusted themselves off, Ellewick slammed the cellar door to the angry sounds of rats on the other side. Now having the proof that they needed, they convinced Basil that, in order to proceed with their preparations for the feast, the rat problem would need to be addressed. However, upon opening the box, they found nothing but a sulpherous smoke where once had been a rat. Ellewick hypothesized that this could have been some sort of mechanical rat, claiming that the people of her homeland frequently crafted such devices. Nebulinae, however -- was feverishly explaining that the rat's "name was Fred, and that he was on a quest to 'discover the secrets of the food kingdom." Cafei was sullenly silent -- although she did repeatedly remind Basil that she was right all along, and hadn't in-fact been nipping Storysap. Suddenly -- the latch at the cellar door began to mysteriously move -- fearing the rats would spill into the kitchen, Ellewick rushed to grab the latch and shut the door, crashing into (and crushing) a tiny, invisible, winged creature into the door, that quickly bit and clawed at her in alarm. "All right! All right! Enough!" a new voice exclaimed "I'm not Fred -- and I'm not here to 'explore the kingdom of food,' or whatever..." exclaimed an Imp, now appearing, flying up into the corner of the room to appraise the party "the name's Sheshiboni Of Nine The Hells, and I've got work to do." Episode 1 No one's said the Zed-Word (this episode was not actually audio recorded, either -- we're trying to get back into a schedule) After a brief discussion with Sheshiboni, the party learns that a demon invasion is scheduled for the near future, and that Shesh, having had the misfortune of teleporting to the wrong fiefdom, was intended to brew potions for the war effort. Contractually bound but unwilling or unable to trek south to Easterton, Sheshiboni and his Sheshibronis have set up shop inside the walls of Arkhellein. Basil, busy with preparations for the upcoming moonberry festival, returns to the kitchen to cook, leaving Cafei and Nebulinae to try and convince Sheshiboni to abandon his contract ("Are you kidding me?...It's not gonna happen.") and failing that, Nebulinae attempts to make a pact with the devil. Fortunately for Neb, Ellewick arrives from a clandestine meeting with her handler just in time to dash the contract with a well-aimed dagger from the dark, and after rudely grabbing Sheshiboni and shoving him back into the wall, she informs the party that under no circumstances should they be attempting negotiations with a devil before the party re-unites upstairs in the kitchen. The wagons are loaded with the ingredients for the festival's feast and a caravan of student revellers, soldiers, and merchants make their way to the small countryside hamlet of Gershwin, a good two days ride to the north. The party begins to acquaint themselves with one another, Ellewick and Basil taking a seat on the chuck wagon, with Cafei and Neb riding alongside on horseback. At noon, the party stops and Basil prepares a picnic while Cafei journeys into the woods nearby. After glimpsing a piece of green glinting in the bushes, she finds the body of Gillie Netcher-- a missing Astronomy student and peer of Neb -- which appears to have been drained of blood through two punctures in the neck. Disturbed, Cafei returns to the wagon train to fetch Ellewick via Thieves' Cant, and the pair return to find the body now upright and moaning in the glade. The pair tries to communicate with the girl, but are suddenly attacked by the screaming corpse. In the brief scuffle that follows, Cafei is grabbed and almost bitten, Ellewick attempts to stab Gillie in the back, but just misses as the pair tumbles to the snow. Nebulinae arrives next and grabs a branch -- striking Gillie in the back of the head. Gillie releases Cafei and turns to Nebulinae, striking her and almost knocking her out. Given the distance they need to recoup, the two rogues begin a second salvo of dagger attacks and make quick work of their schoolmate, Gillie. The soldiers patrolling with the caravan arrive moments too late, and after a brief interrogation, determine that Cafei and Ellewick were telling the truth when, to their horror, Gillie rises again and attempts to bite Ellewick! Thanks in part to her lightning-fast reflexes, Ellewick dodges and cuts Gillie's head clean off, which she hands over to the authorities before advising them "where to stick it."